


Connor's Good (Then Bad) Day

by moretrash



Series: Teaching Your Local Deviant Android About Feelings [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Adorable Connor, Canon-Typical Violence, Crime Scenes, Father-Son Relationship, Hospitals, Kind of I mean it's like an android repair center that I imagined kind of like a hospital, Major Character Injury, Medical Procedures, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Worried Hank Anderson, stab wounds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 06:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15358716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moretrash/pseuds/moretrash
Summary: It's Connor's first day back on the Detroit Police Force as an official detective following Markus' successful demonstration.It doesn't go great.





	Connor's Good (Then Bad) Day

**Author's Note:**

> Help I've fallen into this fandom and I can't get out.

Connor’s day had started great. 

It had been months since Markus’ demonstration had started the process of equal rights for androids. Since then, several laws had been passed that more or less gave androids the same rights as everyone else in the U.S., and more were being passed to solidify those rights. 

One such law was a law that allowed androids to get paying jobs. As a result, Connor had been allowed to become an official detective of the Detroit police department.

(“Thank fucking god,” Hank had said when Connor had told him the good news, “You’ve been going insane, not going to work everyday.”)

Today was his first official day back.

Connor had woken up at a perfectly reasonable hour, in his opinion. Hank would argue otherwise, but Connor wanted to leave and arrive at the police department at a reasonable time. He was glad he had chosen to wake up much earlier than Hank, because he knew he would need time to gather his thoughts. 

Being a deviant was tough. Emotions were tough, especially if you had never experienced them up until a few months ago. Connor knew the dictionary definitions of nearly every basic emotion known to man, but he had idea what he was feeling when he had actually felt it for the first time. Complex emotions were even worse, considering that there was no dictionary definition for anything he was feeling. 

Now, Connor recognized excitement as a dominant emotion that morning as he carefully folded his blanket and set his pillow aside. Along with that, he also recognized nervousness, which he couldn’t understand at first. It wasn’t like this was a completely new job, he would essentially be doing the exact same thing he had done before, so what reason would he have to be nervous?

-

Connor woke Hank up approximately an hour after he had gotten up, smiling through Hank’s grumblings about being woken up. He was already dressed in his standard-issue Cyberlife android uniform, something that caused Hank to frown.

“Connor, you don’t work for those assholes anymore, so why are you wearing their clothes?” He asked. Connor looked down at his clothing and tilted his head.

“Well, all of the clothes I have now seem too informal to wear. I simply didn’t see anything else to wear.” He explained. Hank sighed softly and moved to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast.

“Okay, I’ll allow it for today, but we’re going to get you something else to wear to work other than that fucking thing.” Hank said as he reached into the fridge. “So, how are you feeling about finally going back to work?” He asked. 

“Well, I am feeling a very bizarre mix of excitement and nervousness, though I don’t know what reason I would have to be nervous.” Connor answered honestly. He had long since learned that Hank, grumpy as he was, was a very good listener, especially when it came to Connor trying to explain his newfound emotions.

“That’s what humans call having butterflies in your stomach. And sometimes, you might not have a reason to be nervous but in this case, I’d sure as hell have some nerves. You’re going back to work for the first time in months after laws that finally allow you to have rights have been passed, for Christ’s sake.” Hank said. Connor nodded and leaned down to pet Sumo, who had padded in when he had heard the fridge being opened, in hopes of getting some food. 

“I suppose that makes sense. It is not an entirely pleasant feeling.” Connor said. 

“Yeah, nerves fucking suck. Don’t worry, everyone’s missed you at the precinct. Well, maybe not Gavin, but pretty much everyone else has.” Hank said. And that was the truth; everyone had missed the polite and quirky personality of the android. It was surprising; Connor had been there for ll of two weeks at most, but he somehow managed to worm his way into nearly every officer’s heart. Connor perked up and instantly brightened at the news. 

“We are going to be late if we don’t leave in the next few minutes.” Connor pointed out. Hank shrugged as he dropped this dish into the sink.

“Nothing wrong with being fashionably late.” He said, leaving with a few pats to Sumo’s head. Connor followed and got into the car.

“Is it normal for the butterfly feeling to get worse?” Connor asked.

“Sometimes. You’ll be okay, right? You know we can put off your first day back if you need it.” Hank reminded. Connor shook his head and took a deep breath. Not that androids needed to breathe at all, but it found it calming.

“No, I’ll be fine, Hank.” He insisted. Hank nodded and started the car, heading onto the road.

-

Connor’s first day back had started great. 

Most everyone had been happy to have him back, more so now that Connor was developing his own unique personality, one filled with curiosity that was extremely endearing. Connor was more puppy-like than he had been before, trailing after Hank most of the time. Now, it wasn’t because his instructions were to accompany Hank, but because Hank made Connor feel safe, made the butterflies in his stomach settle down just the tiniest bit. 

Connor’s day had started great, but then a case had come in.

An android had been found shut down in the laundry room of a house belonging to a young couple. When Connor arrived, he had found that the cause of death had been several stab wounds, but there was something that confused him.

“Hank, look at this. More than one knife was used to make these stab wounds.” Connor said. Hank came over and tilted his head.

“Damn, you figured all that out just by looking at it and touching it’s LED?” Hank asked. Connor nodded and crouched down.

“That, and examining these wounds. They are all roughly the same depth, but notice how some are shorter in length than others. Two knives were used to kill this android, because the same knife couldn’t make one wound that is two inches long and one that is half an inch long if it was plunged in at the same depth.” Connor explained. Hank nodded.

“Yeah, so whoever killed the android used two knives? That seems inconvenient.” Hank said. 

“Unless there were two people stabbing the android. The woman in this couple has been very prominent in anti-android circles recently, but the man can be ruled out completely. He is currently on a business trip in New York.” Connor said.

“Well, there’s some blood on the wall in the living room, if that helps.” Hank said. Connor moved in the living room and dipped his fingers in the small smear of blood on the wall. Hank made a sound of disgust as Connor licked the blood, silent and still for a moment as he analyzed the sample.

“This blood belongs to a close friend of the woman’s, so she was here as well. But, there are no recent fingerprints on any of the exits, so they have to still be here somewhere.” Connor said. Hank sat silent when he saw Connor’s LED circle yellow, knowing that the android was analyzing possibilities.

“The android was here to pick up a book that it’s… former? Owner lent the man, if that’s any help.” Hank said when he saw Connor’s LED flicker back to blue. 

“Well, the android was stabbed in the living room, as evidenced by the trail of thirium leading from here to the laundry room. The two women stabbed the android and dragged him to the laundry room to hide him from anyone who saw into the window. The android was still alive at that point, so it was fighting back. It drew blood on the friend, which was accidentally smeared on the wall when the two women made their way to the… basement, I think. No one has left here today, according to neighbors, so they are still here.” Connor said, moving to the door that led to the basement. Hank tensed as he waited for Connor to come back.

-

Connor walked down the stairs slowly, prepared to meet the two at the bottom of the stairs. He found the main room of the basement completely empty, which made him more on edge since the two could be behind any of the three doors leading to other rooms. 

He made his way to the door closest to him, ripping it open. 

Nothing.

He inched his way to the second one, throwing it open.

Nothing.

So they had to be in the third room. Connor went to the door and threw it open, jumping out of the way as the two women jumped out at him. 

One of the women charged at him, brandishing a long, thin knife that Connor recognized as one of the murder weapons, evidenced further by the blue blood stains. He jumped out of the way before he could be stabbed, backing right into the other woman’s knife. He turned around and tried to grab ahold of the other woman, only to be dragged away from her and slammed against a marble table. 

Connor was designed to withstand large amounts of damage, since he was bound to get hurt during investigations. But no one, android or human, could withstand being slammed repeatedly on a solid marble table. 

“Lieutenant! They’re down here!” Connor shouted, forcing himself away from the table. He didn’t want to hurt the two women, he never wanted to hurt anyone for that matter, but he knew he had to fight back if Hank didn’t get down there soon. 

He leaned against the wall as several officers, including Hank, emerged from the stairway, two blocking the way so the two women couldn’t run away. Hank left the women to the other officers and rushed over to Connor.

“Connor, son, what’s wrong? What’s hurt?” Hank asked. Connor’s LED was flickering between yellow and red as he ran diagnostics.

“I was stabbed in the side. I have multiple damaged biocomponents, but they are not critical. No replacements are needed, I can fix it through self-repair.” Connor answered. He didn’t know whether to trust his diagnostics, since one of the damaged biocomponents actually handled his diagnostics, but he wasn’t about to unnecessarily worry Hank. 

“Alright. We’re going to go home so you can get those self-repairs done.” Hank said, keeping a hand on Connor’s back as he lead the android to the car. He could see the two women being put into police cars, but he wanted to get Connor home as soon as possible. 

“Not necessary, Hank. I can handle it until we’ve interrogated the culprits and we’ve filed the report.” Connor insisted. Hank looked suspiciously at Connor, knowing that the stubborn android would fight tooth and nail if he was refused.

“Fine, we’ll go and interrogate them, file that fucking report, and then we’re going straight home.” Hank said, driving back to the precinct. 

-

Interrogations and filing the report for the case had taken longer than Hank or Connor had expected. Connor hadn’t thought the women would be so stubborn to confess, but he supposed anything could happen. He had been relying on the analysis that had told him there was a 91% chance they would confess easily. Apparently, the 9% chance that the women would be stubborn had been the resulting statistic. 

“Fucking finally.” Hank breathed when they could finally leave. He hated the blue blood stain on Connor’s jacket and shirt. The bleeding had been slowed for the most part since Hank had insisted on putting bandages over the wound. Plus, Connor had been steadily looking more and more tired as time went on, though Hank supposed that he would be too if he had several untreated injuries. 

“Connor, time to go, son.” Hank said, making sure Connor was in the car before getting in himself and starting off in the direction of home. 

Connor immediately took the chance to start his repairs. He entered his stasis mode, closing his eyes and tilting his head forward to rest on his collarbone to be more comfortable.

Hank nearly had a heart attack when he looked over and saw that Connor’s LED had turned off, before he noticed Connor’s chest still rising and falling in the mock breathing all androids did. The first time he had seen Connor like that had been way worse, and he had been so sure that an android had died in the passenger seat of his car before consulting the manual Cyberlife had sent him so long ago and found that he had just entered stasis mode to do repairs, similar to how YK500 androids went into stasis to mimic sleep.

He pulled into a nearby parking lot to lean Connor’s seat back so he was more comfortable. He reached into the back seat and grabbed a blanket that Hank had started to keep in case Connor needed to do repairs. Connor insisted that he didn’t need it, but Hank knew that it was actually quite comforting for him. He draped the blanket over the sleeping android before starting back up on the road.

-

Hank didn’t want to wake Connor up when they got home. So, what was his solution?

Carrying Connor, even if it meant he had to stop every few feet and set Connor down to catch his breath. It was a long process, but Hank arrived at the door with little incident. He gently shooed Sumo out of the way when the gargantuan dog came to greet them, carrying Connor over to the couch and laying him down. 

As he looked around, Hank couldn’t help but shake his head as he noticed that the living room had slowly become Connor’s room. He hated that the boy he considered a son didn’t have a room of his own, yet he couldn’t bear to let go of Cole’s room just yet.

Connor’s clothes were folded neatly in a small dresser, mostly soft shirt and hoodies and comfortable pants since Connor had discovered his strong preference for soft things. Blankets and pillows were piled in the corner of the room for Connor to curl up under. On the coffee table was a notebook and pen that Connor used to write down any of his complex feelings that he didn’t understand. Occasionally, he and Connor would go over a couple of the descriptions in an attempt to work out what Connor was feeling. But, other than that, Hank didn’t touch the notebook, as it was essentially the android’s diary. 

He grabbed a blanket that he knew was one of Connor’s favorites, light blue fleece that was extremely soft. He draped it over Connor’s form and brushed some of the synthetic hair out of Connor’s eyes.

“Sumo, you protect him.” Hank said, gesturing to Connor. The dog looked up and boofed, laying down next to the couch. 

“Sleep well, son.” Hank murmured as he leaned against the wall.

-

Connor woke up in the middle of the night, mostly feeling better, before he realized that three of the biocomponents had been more critically damaged than his diagnostics as shown, and would need to be replaced. He hated to wake Hank at such an hour, though. 

He slowly got up and moved to the dresser that stored his clothes. He grabbed a loose sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants, changing into them in the bathroom. He hesitated as he stared at the room across from the bathroom, not knowing whether or not to wake Hank. In the end, he pushed open the door, cringing at squeaking it made. 

Hank hadn’t drank nearly as much as he would have any other night. Though he knew that Connor could do self-repairs, he didn’t want to be too drunk to drive Connor somewhere if it turned out that he did need to go to a repair center. 

A weird thing about being a parent, Hank had noticed, was that you began to be able to feel someone watching you. He remembered several times when he would wake up due to the weird feeling of being watched, only to find Cole by his bed, needing something. 

It wasn’t a feeling Hank had expected to ever feel again. Of course, when your housemate was an android that was so shy to tell Hank that he needed anything, it was something that should have been considered. 

Hank’s eyes fluttered open because he felt the same weird feeling, looking around with his eyebrows furrowed. He frowned when he saw Connor standing in the doorway, tense and awkward.

“Connor, son, what’s wrong?” Hank asked, sitting up.

“My diagnostics seem to be off because of critical damage to the biocomponent that handles that function. Several of my biocomponents are critically damaged and need to be replaced. Of course, it can wait until tomorrow if you wish to sleep.” Connor answered.

“Connor, no. If you’re hurt, we’re not going to fucking wait until tomorrow to fix it. Give me a second and we’ll go to that android emergency room.” Hank said. 

“You mean a repair center?” Connor asked.

“Sure, whatever the fuck the fancy ass name is. It’s an android emergency room.” Hank said, pulling a jacket on and slipping on a pair of shoes. He looked over at Connor, who was still tense.

“Are you sure you’re fine with being woken up?” Connor asked as they got into the car.

“Connor, I’d honestly prefer it if you woke me up for things like this, instead of sitting in the living room, hurt and fucking miserable.” Hank said, having vivid flashbacks to the time he had woken up to find Connor laying on the couch, critically damaged and too nervous to wake Hank up. Connor nodded and leaned back against his seat. 

As they drove, Hank kept glancing over at the android, just to make sure he was doing okay. His LED stayed a steady yellow in the way it was whenever Connor was hurt, but not dying. Honestly, Hank hated seeing it like that, since it meant that Connor was stressed or upset or hurt. He would do literally anything to see the LED turn back to the steady blue that let him know Connor was okay. 

But, when he saw it flicker a light, distressed red, Hank felt honest sadness tug at his heart.

“Connor, is everything okay?” Hank asked. Connor looked over and sighed.

“I… I’m scared.” Connor whispered, having sent the last few minutes trying to figure out what exactly he was feeling.

“Do you know why you’re scared, son?” Hank asked. 

“My diagnosis has never been wrong before.” Connor said. Hank nodded a bit and reached over, patting Connor’s shoulder. He longed to reach over and hug him, but he knew he couldn’t since he was driving.

“Everything’ll be okay. We’ll go to the android E.R. and you’ll get those biocomponents fixed, and we’ll go home and you can cuddle Sumo all you damn well please.” Hank said. Connor nodded and tucked his knees up to his chest.

-

When they arrived, Hank led Connor inside, going up to the reception, infinitely glad that repair centers were 24 hours because, well, you never knew when your android friend would get hurt and need one.

“Good evening. How can I help you today?” The receptionist, a polite woman android, asked. 

“My friend’s biocomponents need to be replaced.” Hank said, glancing at Connor. 

“Alright, and the your friend’s model?” The receptionist asked.

“RK800.” Hank said. 

“And the biocomponents that need to be replaced?” 

“#25639BG, #18247WH, and #927482H.” Connor spoke up. 

“Alright! Just wait out here and a repair technician will see you soon!” The receptionist said. Hank nodded and led Connor to a couple of chairs, sitting him down. Looking around, he oculd see other androids waiting for repair technicians, but it wasn’t nearly as full as a human hospital E.R. would be on a friday night.

“You doing okay, Connor?” Hank asked, glancing at the detective. Connor looked over and shrugged.

“I’m still scared.” He admitted. Hank nodded and pulled Connor close to his side. 

“That’s okay, kid. Hell, hospitals suck, human or android ones.” Hank said. Connor rested his head on Hank’s shoulder, burying his face in his jacket. Hank gently rubbed his back and smiled, letting Connor hide himself away. Normally, he would try and get Connor to stop hiding himself away, but he knew that the whole day had been a rollercoaster of emotions, and he just wanted Connor to feel better.

“It hurts.” Connor spoke up after a few minutes.

“Hurts? What do you mean, it hurts? I thought androids couldn’t feel pain?” Hank asked.

“Well, androids can’t feel pain. But, the feeling of my damaged biocomponents is sort of… throbbing, and if I had to approximate a human equivalent, it would be pain.” Connor explain. Hank sighed sadly, because the person he considered a son was in pain and he was helpless to do anything but wait for the repair technician to see them.

“Oh, Connor. That fucking sucks, but those’ll be replaced and you’ll feel right as rain soon.” Hank said. 

Despite it being far less busy than the average human emergency room, it took just as much time to get Connor back. The pair had been sitting there for nearly two hours before a repair technician finally called them back. 

“Good evening. My name is Evan.” The repair technician introduced. “RK800, why don’t you lay down on the table over there?” 

“Connor.”

“Hm?” The repair technician asked.

“My name is Connor.” Connor repeated. 

“Oh! Well, nice to meet you Connor. Just hop up on that bed and lay down and we’ll get you in and out quickly.” Evan said. Connor laid down and forced himself to relax as Evan approached. Hank reached over and ran his hands through Connor’s hair, watching as Connor relaxed a bit more. He smiled reassuringly and ruffled Connor’s hair.

“Is it alright if I keep doing this?” Hank asked the technician.

“Of course! None of the biocomponents are on his hair, so I see no reason why you can’t keep doing that.” Evan said. Hank nodded and continued the motion as Evan moved towards his stomach.

“Can you push your shirt up for me?” He asked. Connor shoved the fabric up, revealing his abdomen. 

The technician reached out and rested his hand on Connor’s stomach, watching the skin fall away and turn white underneath. He moved the panel on Connor’s stomach, revealing a tangle of wires and biocomponents underneath. He reached in and grabbed one of the biocomponents, setting it aside and grabbing the replacement, get placing it where the old one had once been.

“Damn, this is a lot quicker than human organ transplants.” Hank said. Evan nodded and smiled.

“Indeed, they’re extremely quick. They really are just plug-in pieces, when all the bells and whistles are removed. But they’re extremely important for the functionality of androids, like human organs.” He said. Hank nodded and smiled down at Connor, who looked as though he might fall asleep from Hank petting his hair. Hank knew that androids didn’t need to sleep, and just went into stasis mode for self-repairs, but could androids sleep in they wanted to?

It was definitely an idea he wanted to test sometime in the future.

He watched as the technician replaced the other two biocomponents with ease, Connor falling into the realm just between awareness and sleep from Hank’s ministrations. 

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but Connor’s biocomponent that handles his diagnostics is basically his brain, right?” Hank asked. 

“If you wanted to equate it to a human body part, I suppose so. It carries out their programmed diagnostics and analysis processes, but not necessarily their personalities after becoming deviant.” Evan said. “You’re good to go!” He said brightly. Hank nodded and shook Connor awake, paying for the repairs at reception before leaving.

“You doing okay now?” Hank asked once they started on the road. Connor perked up and nodded.

“Yes, I’m completely fine now, thank you for bringing me on such short notice.” Connor said.

“You don’t have to thank me for being a decent human being, Connor. Honestly, you tell me if anyone denies you medical help and I’ll fuck ‘em up for you.” Hank said. Connor nodded and leaned his head on Hank’s shoulder until they got home. 

-

Connor was settled on the couch, covered by several of his favorite blankets, his head pillowed on a large, fluffy pillow, and cuddling Sumo as though he would die if he let go. 

“Goodnight, kid.” Hank said, turning out the light. He knew that it would eventually be turned back on because Connor didn’t need to sleep, but it was a habit.

“Goodnight Hank.” Connor said softly. Hank smiled as he moved to go to bed to catch a few more hours of rest before work the next morning. He paused as he stared at the door at the end of the hall. Behind it was a room that hadn’t been touched in years, surely gathering dust.

Hank turned around to the living room, thinking of the android son he had taken in. The couch couldn’t be his space forever, he needed a space of his own to retreat to if he needed to be alone. He needed his own space.

Maybe, just maybe, Hank could see himself cleaning out that room, making it into Connor’s own personal space.


End file.
